Nepali Rhinos stunned a star-studded Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) Club by five wickets to enter the quarter-finals of the second Ruslan Cup cricket tournament on Thursday.

At the TU grounds, Sharad Vesawkar’s Rhinos restricted Paras Khadka-led APF to 123-8 in 20 overs before an unbeaten cameo from Sonu Tamang guided them to 125-5 in 19.2 overs. In another match, Mehboob Alam scored a half century as Himalayan White House crushed PC Fighter XI by 107 runs.

Rhinos pulled off the first upset of the tournament including few established names in the squad. Vesawkar, Sonu Tamang, Pawan Sharraf, Rupesh Srivastav and Sushil Kandel were few of the big names in the squad competing against an APF side that boasted a haul of national players.

Tamang and Vesawkar rescued Rhinos from 79-5 with an unbeaten 50-run partnership. Tamang smashed a 14-ball 33, while Vesawkar scored a composed 25-ball 20.

Jitendra Thakuri was the second best scorer with a 31-ball 32 that included three fours and a six, while Sanjay Shrestha made 16 off 26 with four fours and a six. Basanta Regmi took 2-11 from four overs for APF, while leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane was smashed for 36 runs in four overs.

Earlier, Bhuwan Karki had lifted APF above triple figures scoring a 16-ball 33 not out with three fours and two sixes. Khadka, Subash Khakurel and Aasif Sheikh made 18 runs each. Man-of-the-match Vesawkar took two wickets for Rhinos.

In the first match of the day, White House were 2-1 before Alam got involved in two crucial partnerships leading the team to 169-9. PC Fighter were down and out after Alam reduced them to 3-0 before the entire team was bundled out for 62 in 16 overs. Opener Naresh Chand was the only PC Fighter batsman to offer some reistance making a 34-ball 22 with two fours and a six. Sandeep Dhungana and Hasim Ansari also picked up two wickets each.

Man-of-the-match Alam had consolidated White House innings with an 82-run stand for the third wicket with Subhendu Pandey who contributed 38 off 28 hitting eight boundaries. He then shared another 51 runs for the sixth wicket with Pranit Thapa Magar. Magar made 32 off 18 with five fours and a six, while Amar Singh Rautela chipped in 25 off 19 with two boundaries. Alam scored 51 off 45 with five fours and four sixes.